Kindergartners Talk Money With U.S. Treasurer

She’s the woman whose name is on about a trillion dollars’ worth of American currency and kindergartners in Lisa and Catie’s class, and their fifth-grade buddies, recently got to meet her. U.S. Treasurer Rosa Gumataotao Rios oversees the printing of all the country’s bills and coins and manages 4,000 employees.

 

Students were also excited to learn about some of the major changes happening with the $10 bill, which currently features founding father Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury. Rosa is the person responsible for recommending that a woman be placed on the $10 bill.

 

“It’s very historical and this is why I took this job seven years ago, and it’s why I’m still at this job seven years later because I want to see this through. It’s very, very important,” Rosa said.

 

The new note, rolling out in 2020, will be the first time in more than 100 years that a woman’s face will be printed on our currency. In 1865, Pocahontas appeared on the $20 bill, and Martha Washington was on the silver dollar coin in 1896. In about a month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury will release details on who will be the new face on the $10 bill. Hellen Keller and Susan B. Anthony are among the contenders.

 

Rosa also let the kindergartners in on couple of secrets: It will be more than one note and, for the first time in our nation’s history, will include a tactile feature to aid the blind and visually impaired.

 

She finished the visit, her first time speaking at an elementary school since taking on her role with the treasury, by asking the students what they would do if they were president. Some ideas the kindergartners had included presenting medals to people who stand up for others, giving money to the homeless and “making people happy.” Rosa also gifted the students with small bags of shredded money.